When I was little I was given a small square of the garden to do whatever I wanted with, as was my older brother. He decided to dig a hole, a big hole, with a tunnel. I was a little more traditional and tried to make a small pond and planted flower seeds. The results were polar opposites, my pond was a disaster and seemed to constantly get holes in it and drain away, whilst the flowers grew and thrived, almost too well!! They were strawflowers, we had an abundance and because they were a perfect flower for drying it felt like we couldn’t get rid of them and it feels like they were around forever!
I never stopped enjoying playing in the garden, when we moved the new house had a huge greenhouse and I remember spending hours in there….. but looking back I can’t for the life of me remember what I planted!!
When I finally got a house of my own it had a small garden and now I could do whatever I wanted with it. Again I can spend hours playing in the garden, but don’t get me wrong, I’m no expert, I just enjoy it.

The same is true for cooking, starting out with eggy bread as a child and just trying new things, repeating successes and getting grumpy at failures. I’ve had my fair share of the latter, not sure what good use my home made marmalade could be used for, I tried calling it marmajam, but the texture was still like glue and it didn’t taste great. I’m sure there are still jars lurking at the back of the cupboard – it’s hard to admit some failures, especially those which you’ve spent ages hovering over a hot stove to create!
I also knit, sew, crochet, whittle and felt, little projects, as and when the mood takes me, these things tend to go in phases. Ongoing is the gym and the latest addiction, Dragon boating, that one I never saw coming. This time last year I had never heard of it!
Oh, there are also two daft cats in the mix as well…
Welcome to my world!